


Birthday blues

by Ailendolin



Series: Snapshots in Space [3]
Category: Star Trek: Picard
Genre: 5+1 Things, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Birthday, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fix-It, Gen, Hugh | Third of Five Lives, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Canon Fix-It, Sad Hugh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:28:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25443166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ailendolin/pseuds/Ailendolin
Summary: Five times Hugh celebrated someone else's birthday, and one time he celebrated his own (in a way).
Relationships: Beverly Crusher & Hugh | Third of Five, Elnor & Hugh | Third of Five, Hugh | Third of Five & Geordi La Forge, Hugh | Third of Five & Seven of Nine
Series: Snapshots in Space [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1821478
Comments: 2
Kudos: 22





	Birthday blues

**Author's Note:**

> This is part 3 of my ongoing 5+1 series about Hugh and Elnor. The parts of this series are only very losely connected, so you don't have to read the first two parts to understand this one. But if you have, this part is set in Universe 102 of part 1 and Meribel is a recurring character from part 2 =)
> 
> I'm not a native English speaker, so if you find any mistakes, point them out to me and I'll fix them.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek, Star Trek Picard or any of the characters mentioned in this story, and I don't make any money with this.

**Birthday blues**

**1\. Geordi**

The first time Hugh becomes aware of the importance of birthdays is when he visits Geordi on board of the _Enterprise_. It’s February, and roughly half a year has passed since Hugh had to watch his fellow drones suffer under Lore’s regiment. The last few months were hard, and although Hugh feels bad for leaving his people, he also feels relieved to be able to escape the confusion and hardships just for a little while. It’s a peculiar dichotomy. 

Geordi looks good – no signs of the torture he was subjected to on the planet Hugh still calls his home for lack of a better word. He smiles when he greets Hugh on the transporter pad, warm and and happy. They go to Geordi’s quarters, and there’s a half-eaten cake on the table, wonderfully decorated in blue and orange swirls.

“It’s a birthday cake,” Geordi explains unprompted.

Hugh tilts his head to the side. “Birthday?”

“Yes.” Geordi smiles. “Every year, we celebrate the day we were born – often, with cake,” he says, handing Hugh a piece. “Here, try some.”

It tastes wonderful and sweet. Hugh tells Geordi so.

It also makes him feel a little sad, and he doesn’t understand why.

* * *

**2\. Beverly**

Beverly is the first person to invite Hugh to a birthday party. He’s on the _Enterprise_ recovering from his ocular implant removal surgery when Beverly walks up to him and asks, “If you feel up for it, I thought you might like to join us in the mess hall? It’s my birthday today, and we’re celebrating.” There’s a twinkle in her eye when she adds, “Geordi told me you like cake.”

Hugh nods. “I do.”

She holds out her hand to him and he takes it.

The mess hall is filled with people. Hugh doesn’t know most of them. Some keep staring at him but Beverly tells him to ignore them so Hugh does just that. He watches as people come over and hug her, tell her, “Happy birthday!” and give her small boxes wrapped in bright colorful paper.

Hugh observes, not quite understanding the rituals he’s witnessing yet, but after a while it becomes clear that hugs and congratulations are a common gesture, so Hugh turns to Beverly and awkwardly says, “Happy birthday, Beverly.”

Beverly smiles and draws him into her arms. It’s a novel sensation, getting hugged, but Hugh decides he likes it.

He likes it very much. 

* * *

**3\. Seven of Nine**

Meeting Seven of Nine for the first time is both exciting and intimidating. She is like him in so many ways, yet so different in others. She still goes by her Borg designation instead of her name and holds herself like Borg, her speech patterns not having adapted yet. At the same time she is confident in her capabilities and doesn’t hide what sets her apart from others – most likely a result of being surrounded by friends those first few years after her reclamation.

Hugh can’t help but wonder if he’d have been more like her if he’d stayed with Beverly and Geordi instead of going back to the Collective. Seven is lucky, he thinks as he sees how many people are here to celebrate her. She has people who care about her, who want to make her happy on this special day and have gone to great lengths to organize a surprise party and keep it secret from her.

Hugh is happy for her, and he tells her as much when they finally meet. When her friends call her away to blow out the candles, he watches her go wistfully, wishing he had the kind of family she has.

* * *

**4\. Meribel (formerly known as Fourth of Eight)**

Meribel’s smile is as bright as a sun when her face appears on Hugh’s screen in his quarters. She has grown since the last time Hugh saw her, and her own blond hair now frames her young face instead of the wig she wore when she left the Artifact months ago.

“Happy birthday, Meribel,” he tells her softly, Elnor’s voice echoing his, and Meribel’s face lights up even more.

“I can’t believe you two remembered!” she exclaims.

Hugh smiles. “How could we possibly forget?”

She tells them all about her day, about the presents her grandparents gave her and the friends she’s invited and excited to see. They get a tour of the house and Meribel shows them her room and the cake her grandmother baked for her, all the while talking a mile a minute

When they end the call, Hugh’s cheeks are hurting from smiling so hard.

“She seems really happy,” Elnor remarks softly. “And so do you.”

“It’s her first birthday after her reclamation,” Hugh says. “It’s an important day. I’m glad she could spend it with friends and family.”

“Yet you miss her,” Elnor states. 

There’s no use in lying to him. “Yes. Very much so.”

* * *

**5\. Elnor**

Elnor’s birthday is coming up, and Hugh doesn’t know what to get him. He wants to make this day special, wants to show Elnor how much he appreciates him staying with him on the Artifact instead of exploring space with the crew of _La Sirena_ or going home to Vashti.

The only question is, how?

He has already enlisted Seven’s help for the birthday cake. She will drop by with it on the morning of Elnor’s birthday, as will the crew of _La Sirena_. Hugh knows Elnor will be happy to see all of them, especially Picard, but it still doesn’t seem enough.

When the perfect gift finally occurs to him, it’s almost too late to make the necessary travel arrangements.

But in the end, everything works out.

Elnor is happy about his cake, happy about having Seven and Picard and everyone else close again. The xBs sing him _Happy Birthday_ and even though it’s a little off-key, Elnor smiles.

But then Zani arrives, and Hugh will never forget the look of surprise and unrestrained happiness on Elnor’s face when he finally spots her. Elnor turns to him and hugs him, grateful beyond words, and Hugh simply whispers, “Happy birthday.”

* * *

**+1 Hugh**

Hugh is sitting in the mess hall with Elnor, sharing an early breakfast. It’s a few weeks after Elnor’s birthday, and they’re the only people awake right now. Hugh likes quiet mornings with Elnor when neither of them has any appointments they need to hurry off to and they can just relax and spend some time in each other’s company. It’s not often that they get to do this, just sitting quietly together and talking about things not related to work, and Hugh treasures these moments.

Elnor’s question this morning, however, throws him.

“When is your birthday?” Elnor asks, face open and curious.

“My what?” Hugh says.

Elnor huffs out a laugh. “Your birthday, Hugh. You put so much work into my party – I wish to return the favor.”

Hugh swallows hard. “I … I do not have a birthday, Elnor,” he says quietly.

Elnor frowns. “Of course you do. Everybody does.”

“Yes, but-” Hugh pauses and shakes his head before taking a deep breath. “I don’t know when I was born, Elnor. There are no records of me before I was assimilated.”

Elnor’s frown deepens. “But I always thought – you have a name, surely there must be records beyond that.”

Hugh tries to put on a brave smile even though this particular subject always makes him both sad and uncomfortable. Judging by the look on Elnor’s face, he doesn’t succeed. He sighs. 

“Beverly and Geordi gave me my name,” he explains softly. “After they rescued me. It was not planned, just kind of … happened. It’s not …” he pauses, searching for the right word. “It’s not the name my parents gave me, but it has been my name ever since.”

“Oh,” Elnor says, an awfully quiet sound. “I didn’t know that.”

“It’s okay,” Hugh reassures him.

Except it’s not. It’s never really been okay which is why Hugh tries not to think about his past and the things he cannot change – like his childhood which is nothing more than a blank slate. He has no memories of his parents, grandparents or siblings. He doesn’t know which planet he grew up on, if he had friends in school, or hobbies he enjoyed as a child.

He is Hugh, and before Hugh, there was only Third of Five.

Before Third of Five, there was nothing.

Years ago, he had tried digging into his past. It had been an excruciatingly exhausting and frustrating process. He’d spent weeks going through files and official Federation records only to find nothing. Nothing at all, not even a hint of a scrap of information. With nothing to go on, no way of knowing which species he belonged to, which planet he originated from or how old he had been when he was assimilated, it was like searching for a needle in a haystack. The files were full of little boys who got lost some way or another in the galaxy, but none of them triggered any memories. He could have been any of those poor children, or none of them.

In the end, Hugh had given up and locked his longing for a connection to his past away in a far corner of his mind where it couldn’t fill him with regret anymore.

And with one well-meant question, Elnor had thrown light into that corner, making it hard to ignore the itching in Hugh’s fingers that urged him to try again.

It was a month later when Elnor brought up the matter again.

“Searching for your past is frustrating,” he admits during dinner one night.

This time, Hugh manages a smile. “I could have told you that.”

Elnor gives him an unhappy look. “You have to have family out there somewhere.”

Hugh shrugs nonchalantly even though he finds it difficult to pretend he doesn’t care. “I might, I might not. For all I know they were assimilated along with me.”

“I do not like that thought,” Elnor states.

Hugh sighs. “Neither do I. But there’s nothing we can do about it. And besides, I found a new family with Geordi, Beverly, Seven … and you.”

Elnor gives him a brief smile before his expression grows sad once more. “It is not the same, though.”

Hugh lowers his gaze to his plate. “No, it’s not,” he admits.

He thinks they’re done with the matter for good after that, but two weeks later Elnor surprises him once more.

“June 11th,” he says with a big grin.

“Is next week, I know,” Hugh says slowly, not quite sure where Elnor is going with this.

Elnor shakes his head. “No, June 11th!” he exclaims as if that explains anything. He reaches for Hugh’s hands and squeezes them. “It’s your Reclamation Day!”

“My what?”

Elnor laughs as if Hugh said something funny. “Your Reclamation Day! The day Beverly found you! It’s in the files, I looked it up.”

Hugh still doesn’t understand why this is important to Elnor. “So?”

“So,” Elnor says patiently, “we’re going to celebrate!”

“Why?” Hugh asks.

Elnor sighs and his grin softens into a smile full of fondness. “It’s not fair that you don’t get to celebrate your birthday just because we don’t know when it is. Randomly picking a date seemed wrong, so I started thinking about reclamation – it’s a little bit like being born again, is it not? You start a new life, free from the Borg. It’s like a birthday, but for xBs!”

A birthday for xBs.

Hugh’s eyes begin to burn as he realizes what that means. His throat closes up and he swallows hard because this – this is something he thought he’d never get to have. He barely manages to choke out a, “Thank you,” before he has to bury his face in Elnor’s shoulder to hide his emotions.

A week later, the Artifact is decorated in bright colors, and for the first time in his life, Hugh gets his own cake. His friends cheer him on as he blows out the candles, and Hugh can’t remember ever being this happy. 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this little birthday fic! It's my own birthday today so I thought I'd celebrate in true hobbit fashion (meaning giving gifts instead of receiving them) and write another 5+1 story for the Hugh Crew. You guys have been awesome these past few months and I'm so glad I found you! Lots of love and until next time!


End file.
